Justin Roiland Slammed For Using AI Art To Finish High On Life
While the idea Rick & Morty's Justin Roiland making a video game sounds like a money-making idea to cash in on the wacky world of Rick Sanchez, High on Life isn't that at all. We're still holding out hope for Squanch Games to deliver an actual Roy: A Life Well Lived.
Although you'll recognise Roiland's vocals pulling off his best Morty Smith impression as Kenny the gun, High on Life isn't a Rick & Morty game, it just has the same crass humour.
The first reviews haven't exactly been glowing for High on Life, and as if Roiland didn't have enough to contend with as the title's toilet humour alienates the masses, he's now being dragged for using AI art in-game.
Why Does High On Life Use AI Art?
The debate around AI art has returned to the forefront in recent weeks, with the likes of the Lensa app showing what you could look like in a variety of different scenarios. Yeah, it's all well and good to change your Twitter profile to you as a glossy superhero, but apart from AI stealing your data, there's a worry it's stealing the work of actual artists.
AI art paints a worrying picture of how advanced it could become, and although most can still spot the differences between the work of a robot and the work of a human, we could be in a Terminator situation here. Now, Roiland has been called out for using AI art to "finish" High on Life.
In an interview with Sky News (via TheGamer), Roiland confirmed that he used AI to help complete High on Life. Explaining why, the Game Director said, "It makes the world feel like a strange alternate universe of our world. And we used it to come up with weird, funny ideas."
"I don't know what the future holds," added Roiland, "But AI is going to be a tool that has the potential to make content creation incredibly accessible. High on Life used the powerful Midjoruney AI, and although Roiland hasn't confirmed where it was used, Reddit user u/Return-To-Fender thinks they've spotted a series of AI posters.
If this wasn't enough, Lead Designer Erich Meyr told Sky News that AI character voices were also used - despite only one making the final cut. At a time voice actors are in the same boat as artists in trying to find work, many are left asking why real-life humans weren't asked to do these tasks. Oh yeah... money.
Fans React To High On Life's AI
As you can imagine, angry gamers and artists alike took to Twitter to slam High on Life. With comments ranging from it being lazy to devaluing the work of actual artists, one went further to say that this proves video games can't be classed as art.
Raging about the situation, one critic wrote, "Don't support High on Life by buying it, they used AI for in game posters and stuff and the humor of it is not really funny," while another added, "Learning that High on Life uses some AI art is disappointing and unsurprising at the same time."
Wading into the "video games can't be art" argument, someone concluded, "AI art in High on Life FINALLY ends the discussion about whether video games are art or not, because I can't think of any answer other than 'no' when everyone is excited to cut the artistry out of creation for the sake of making money more easily."
We get that the whole schtick of Roiland is to be edgy with Rick & Morty, and to be honest, we wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing was some sort of meta joke. Still, it's not a good look as fans turn against this already divisive sci-fi shooter.
